DAVID Cameron today launches his bid to become Prime Minister — as he reveals his plans to “Get Britain Working” again.

On the eve of his party’s annual conference in Manchester, the Tory leader declares that tackling Britain’s millions of unemployed will be a Conservative government’s first priority.

“We’ve got to take on Labour’s job crisis,” Mr Cameron warns in an exclusive message to News of the World readers. “It’s vital that we get to grips with this problem.”

In a deliberate ploy to steal ground from Gordon Brown, Mr Cameron says the Tories will focus on the vital issues the Labour party ignored at their conference last week.

The Prime Minister claimed Tory plans to cut public spending would abandon a generation to long-term poverty and unemployment. But Mr Cameron points out that over the past 12 months unemployment has soared.

One in five young people are out of work and and there are now six million people claiming benefits.

Under his plan, Mr Cameron will scrap Labour’s flagship New Deal programme and create a new one-stop shop for everyone who is out of work.

After being assessed, people will be moved on to job training, education, apprenticeships or programmes run by voluntary agencies and charities.

Those with health problems, drug or alcohol addiction, will be dealt with as part of the same programme.

Mr Cameron warns of the dangers of a jobs crisis, saying: “It’s not just that it comes with a price-tag of tens of billions a year. It’s that mass unemployment can lead to massive social problems — like family breakdown and crime.

“To deal with it means ripping up the old way of doing things and bringing radical change across the whole of our economy. That’s what our plan to Get Britain Working is all about.”

His party plan to spend the week concentrating on the economy, social care and public services — with Shadow Chancellor George Osborne likely to warn tax rises will be necessary.

THE Tories are on course for a 70-seat majority at the next general election, according to a major new poll.

The PoliticsHome.com quiz of 33,000 people in 238 marginal constituencies predicts the Tories are on course to win 360 seats. Labour would come second with 199 and the Lib Dems third with 55.

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BY DAVID CAMERON

LABOUR’S party conference in Brighton was as lacklustre as an old end of the pier show. They could have gone there and offered leadership, honesty, ideas — the things we expect of a government when a country’s in crisis.

But what did we get? Five days of Labour talking to themselves and feeling sorry for themselves.

This week the Conservatives will be setting out our plans to deal with Labour’s debt crisis.

Tough decisions need to be taken and — unlike Gordon Brown — we won’t duck them at our conference.

But we’re not just going to deal with the debt crisis — we’ve got to take on Labour’s jobs crisis too.

This year, unemployment rose at the fastest rate on record. One in five young people are out of work. And even before the recession almost five million people were claiming out-of-work benefits.

It is vital that we get to grips with this problem. It’s not just that it comes with a price-tag of tens of billions a year.

It’s that mass unemployment can lead to massive social problems — like family breakdown and crime — and that affects us all.

A crisis of this scale, that runs so deep, cannot be solved with one policy or programme alone. It means ripping up the old way of doing things and bringing radical change across the whole of our economy.

That’s what our plan to Get Britain Working is all about.

But getting Britain working is not just about creating jobs for people — it’s about getting people ready for work. And here we need real integrated thinking. We need long-term, sweeping change.

CHANGE in our schools so our children are equipped with the tools to get on.

CHANGE in apprenticeships and training, so that people have the skills that businesses really want.

CHANGE in our universities so we have the research and innovation that will help us edge ahead of our competitors.

And, crucially, CHANGE in the welfare system. Our plan is for the biggest shake-up in welfare for 60 years. It includes giving the long-term unemployed the personalised support they need to get back into work.

This is the last conference season before a general election. I hope News of the World readers will see a big difference between a Labour party obsessed only with its own survival and a Conservative party not playing it safe — but making the tough decisions the country needs to get back on its feet.

Comments

DAVID Cameron today launches his bid to become Prime Minister — as he reveals his plans to “Get Britain Working” again.

On the eve of his party’s annual conference in Manchester, the Tory leader declares that tackling Britain’s millions of unemployed will be a Conservative government’s first priority.

“We’ve got to take on Labour’s job crisis,” Mr Cameron warns in an exclusive message to News of the World readers. “It’s vital that we get to grips with this problem.”

In a deliberate ploy to steal ground from Gordon Brown, Mr Cameron says the Tories will focus on the vital issues the Labour party ignored at their conference last week.

The Prime Minister claimed Tory plans to cut public spending would abandon a generation to long-term poverty and unemployment. But Mr Cameron points out that over the past 12 months unemployment has soared.

One in five young people are out of work and and there are now six million people claiming benefits.

Under his plan, Mr Cameron will scrap Labour’s flagship New Deal programme and create a new one-stop shop for everyone who is out of work.

After being assessed, people will be moved on to job training, education, apprenticeships or programmes run by voluntary agencies and charities.

Those with health problems, drug or alcohol addiction, will be dealt with as part of the same programme.

Mr Cameron warns of the dangers of a jobs crisis, saying: “It’s not just that it comes with a price-tag of tens of billions a year. It’s that mass unemployment can lead to massive social problems — like family breakdown and crime.

“To deal with it means ripping up the old way of doing things and bringing radical change across the whole of our economy. That’s what our plan to Get Britain Working is all about.”

His party plan to spend the week concentrating on the economy, social care and public services — with Shadow Chancellor George Osborne likely to warn tax rises will be necessary.

THE Tories are on course for a 70-seat majority at the next general election, according to a major new poll.

The PoliticsHome.com quiz of 33,000 people in 238 marginal constituencies predicts the Tories are on course to win 360 seats. Labour would come second with 199 and the Lib Dems third with 55.

...................

BY DAVID CAMERON

LABOUR’S party conference in Brighton was as lacklustre as an old end of the pier show. They could have gone there and offered leadership, honesty, ideas — the things we expect of a government when a country’s in crisis.

But what did we get? Five days of Labour talking to themselves and feeling sorry for themselves.

This week the Conservatives will be setting out our plans to deal with Labour’s debt crisis.

Tough decisions need to be taken and — unlike Gordon Brown — we won’t duck them at our conference.

But we’re not just going to deal with the debt crisis — we’ve got to take on Labour’s jobs crisis too.

This year, unemployment rose at the fastest rate on record. One in five young people are out of work. And even before the recession almost five million people were claiming out-of-work benefits.

It is vital that we get to grips with this problem. It’s not just that it comes with a price-tag of tens of billions a year.

It’s that mass unemployment can lead to massive social problems — like family breakdown and crime — and that affects us all.

A crisis of this scale, that runs so deep, cannot be solved with one policy or programme alone. It means ripping up the old way of doing things and bringing radical change across the whole of our economy.

That’s what our plan to Get Britain Working is all about.

But getting Britain working is not just about creating jobs for people — it’s about getting people ready for work. And here we need real integrated thinking. We need long-term, sweeping change.

CHANGE in our schools so our children are equipped with the tools to get on.

CHANGE in apprenticeships and training, so that people have the skills that businesses really want.

CHANGE in our universities so we have the research and innovation that will help us edge ahead of our competitors.

And, crucially, CHANGE in the welfare system. Our plan is for the biggest shake-up in welfare for 60 years. It includes giving the long-term unemployed the personalised support they need to get back into work.

This is the last conference season before a general election. I hope News of the World readers will see a big difference between a Labour party obsessed only with its own survival and a Conservative party not playing it safe — but making the tough decisions the country needs to get back on its feet.